The present invention generally relates to apparatus for sewing and handling mattresses or other cushion structures and, more particularly, relates to apparatus for sewing the top and bottom panels of a mattress or cushion to the side panels thereof while reducing the time and operator effort usually associated with such a sewing operation.
Specialized edge sewing and taping machines stitch the peripheral edges of upper and lower panels of a mattress or cushion to the side panels thereof. Generally, a mattress is moved along a table or mattress support by a conveyor belt that conveys the mattress past a sewing head mounted adjacent the table or support. With current apparatus of this type, the operator stands next to the sewing machine and must firmly compress the mattress to create slack in the fabric panels or shell and continuously pull an edge of the relative upper major face panel together with an edge of a side panel while guiding the mattress into the sewing head. As the operator feeds the mattress into the sewing head, a narrow covering strip is laid over the seam by a suitable feed mechanism and is sewn simultaneously with the seam. The strip covers the seam to create aesthetically acceptable upper and lower edges around the periphery of the mattress.
Mattress edge sewing and taping operations have generally required great manual effort due not only to the size and weight of the mattress but also to the constant compression that the operator must apply to the top of the mattress as well as the simultaneous tension that the operator must apply to the panels as mentioned above. It will be appreciated that large mattresses are especially cumbersome and awkward to manipulate and handle by hand. This has been a special concern in the past when sewing the corners of the mattress which require extra handling and guidance efforts on the part of the operator. Certain improvements have been made in this regard to ease the effort necessary by the operator. For example, one known mattress and cushion sewing device includes a mattress pivoting mechanism and suitable sensors for detecting the corners of the mattress and pivoting the mattress. When a corner is detected, the pivoting mechanism turns the mattress as the sewing head continuously sews around the corner.
Also, when one peripheral edge is sewn and taped it has been necessary for the operator or operators to manually flip the mattress over to sew and tape the other peripheral edge. Typically, a two table system has been used with the tables placed end-to-end and each table having a separate sewing head. When the first edge is finished using the first table and sewing head, the mattress is conveyed to a space between the two sewing heads and then manually flipped over before being sewn and taped by the sewing head on the second table.
It will be appreciated, therefore, that known sewing and taping apparatus continue to have disadvantages associated with the great amount of manual effort as well as the costs and space necessary with prior systems. There is thus still a need for improvements in the art which further reduce the manual labor and effort necessary while sewing and taping the edges of a mattress or cushion. Moreover, there is a need for a mattress sewing and handling apparatus which facilitates more accurately sewn and taped edges, requires less space, and costs less than past apparatus.